Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 01, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 A 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013 TOP NEWS winnipegfreepress. com A TINY Lake Winnipeg beach community is making a major land grab from its much larger neighbour, the RM of St. Andrews, in a scene reminiscent of the novel, The Mouse that Roared . The Village of Dunnottar, in the role of the cheeky " mouse," has applied to the Manitoba Municipal Board to annex 55 square kilometres from St. Andrews. The targeted land carries an assessed value of $ 51 million. The annexation would increase the beach community's area by about 10 times. Dunnottar officials want to add at least 300 people to the population of 700, thereby avoiding a forced amalgamation under the NDP government's Bill 33, the Municipal Modernization Act. It requires any municipality with fewer than 1,000 residents to find a partner and amalgamate, in an effort to cut local administration costs. There are 87 municipalities in Manitoba with fewer than 1,000 residents. Plans for amalgamation must be submitted by Dec. 1. " I know it's a big area ( that Dunnottar is trying to annex) but in comparison to the entire municipality ( of St. Andrews), it's relatively small," said Dunnottar Mayor Richard Gamble. The RM of St. Andrews is not amused. " We've had a phenomenal relationship with that municipality. They've just destroyed it," said St. Andrews Reeve Don Forfar. Forfar said the annexation would affect " about 700 people that we don't want to lose." He is offended Dunnottar's council didn't notify him before going ahead with its application. " We did try to contact him and he was busy," Gamble replied. Dunnottar is in a bind because it's surrounded by St. Andrews on three sides, with Lake Winnipeg on the other side. So Dunnottar would have to amalgamate with rapidly growing St. Andrews, which has about 12,000 residents and is behind East St. Paul as one of the wealthiest municipalities in Manitoba. But Dunnottar separated from St. Andrews in 1947 due to poor service delivery. Neither Dunnottar nor St. Andrews is interested in amalgamating. St. Andrews would have to take on Dunnottar's cottagers. " They don't want to be amalgamated and we're not looking for extra people and extra work," said Forfar. So St. Andrews offered Dunnottar a strip of land almost 17 metres wide and about three kilometres long to physically connect Dunnottar to Winnipeg Beach. But that would only compound Dunnottar's ability to access grants, and provincial sales tax and lottery monies, because those are paid out based on permanent residents only, Gamble said. Dunnottar is about 60 kilometres north of Winnipeg. St. Andrews abuts Winnipeg on the north side. Gamble said the logical solution would be for the province to recognize Dunnottar's cottagers. The community swells to 3,000 people in summer and the cottagers pay property taxes. " The province has talked about a lot of smaller communities where administrative costs are in the 40 per cent range. Ours are at 17 per cent," said Gamble. Dunnottar's council wrote to the province Jan. 7, asking to be omitted from Bill 33 but has not received a reply. " We offer different services ( for seasonal residents) that aren't offered in rural municipalities," said Gamble. Dunnottar's annexation would include all land east to Highway 8, and north up to, but excluding, Winnipeg Beach, and to about two kilometres south of Dunnottar's current border. Government Affairs Minister Ron Lemieux warned Dunnottar the annexation process could take up to two years, whereas amalgamation would be much quicker. As well, municipal board officials say Dunnottar's submission is incomplete. The village must show it has talked to affected residents and the RM before its application will be accepted. From there, the two sides would have to meet to try to hammer out an agreement. Lemieux ruled out counting cottagers under Bill 33. " Having residents who are non- permanent is not a sustainable way to be running a municipality," Lemieux said About half of Manitoba's 87 municipalities have begun the process of amalgamation, he said. The province wants the amalgamations completed before municipal elections in 2014. bill. redekop@ freepress. mb. ca By Bill Redekop Lake Winnipeg Town of Winnipeg Beach Village of Dunnottar 55 square kilometres of land Dunnottar is seeking to annex from the RM of St. Andrews ' We've had a phenomenal relationship with that municipality. They've just destroyed it' - St. Andrews Reeve Don Forfar Village makes bold land grab Seeks to annex part of St. Andrews to bypass NDP edict THE extended session of the Manitoba legislature is becoming a battle of wills - with no end in sight. As MLAs sit in August for the first time in more than a decade, members on both sides of the house say privately the session could extend well into the fall. Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister, marking his first anniversary at the party's helm Wednesday, said the Tories are not prepared to let the NDP off the hook for boosting the PST to eight per cent July 1. Asked what the PCs want to accomplish before the session ends, he said: " We'd like the government to back off on the PST hike." When it was suggested the Selinger government appears to be dug in on its retail sales tax policy, Pallister retorted: " People are always dug in before they give up." The Conservatives have used every means at their disposal to prolong the legislative session, which was set to conclude June 13. The NDP, which had seen virtually none of its legislative agenda passed by then, called an " emergency" sitting of the house the following Monday. MLAs have been showing up to work at 450 Broadway ever since. The Conservatives appear to enjoy the government's struggle - although they did allow an interim supply bill to receive royal assent on Monday. The money bill ensures the government has sufficient funds to pay for salaries and programs and to keep the lights on in government buildings well into fall. Whether MLAs will still be sitting then is unknown. Pallister wouldn't tip his hand when asked on Wednesday. Legislatures across Canada all have their own set of operating rules. The adage in Manitoba is that while the government decides when a session begins, the Opposition decides when it ends. If NDP MLAs are going to be worn down by Opposition tactics, as Pallister suggested, they're not showing it. Instead, they've been determined to pass their budget bill - allowing them to raise the PST without holding a referendum, as mandated by a law passed by the Conservatives under Gary Filmon. And they've vowed to have their anti- bullying law ( Bill 18) in place before the new school year starts. Also controversial is a bill to force small municipalities to amalgamate to form larger units. " We're prepared to do the work that needs to be done for Manitobans. For us, being here is part of our responsibilities," Premier Greg Selinger said Wednesday. " We take them seriously." He said it's the Opposition's call on how long the session will last. Provincial legislators have sat infrequently in August, but it's hardly unheard of ( see below). Selinger admonished the Tories for preventing passage of the interim supply bill until the last minute, saying it created unnecessary uncertainty and stress for government workers. " They did that ( stalled the bill's passage) last week, right up until the last minute. That creates uncertainty. That creates stress for people." For their part, the Tories maintained all along they would not allow the wheels of government to fall off and the NDP invented the notion of a potential " fiscal cliff." University of Manitoba political scientist Paul Thomas said if the session drags on into the fall, it would be a marathon affair by Manitoba standards. Thomas said it would be difficult at this point for the government to back off its legislative agenda, particularly in areas where it's already taken a considerable political risk, such as the decision to hike the PST. " You're not going to change the government's mind at this point on anything. The government's invested too much," he said. So far, the NDP has not indicated it would use closure to ram through its legislative agenda. Use of this rarely employed measure could backfire on the government and contribute to the notion it has grown arrogant, Thomas said. It's possible the government could call for a recess and recall the house in the fall, but so far it's not indicated it's contemplating such a move. Thomas said a break might give the government time to work out some kind of consensus with the Opposition on some key matters. Asked about such a possibility on Wednesday, Selinger was cautious, suggesting it would be up to the government and opposition house leaders to discuss. larry. kusch@ freepress. mb. ca Past sittings of the Manitoba legislature in August: . In 1969, after the NDP under Ed Schreyer gained power in Manitoba for the first time in a June election, the legislature sat from Aug. 14 to Oct. 10. . In 1986, after Howard Pawley won a second mandate for the NDP in a late- winter election, the legislature sat from May 8 to Sept. 10. . In 1988, after winning a minority government on April 26, Gary Filmon's Conservatives convened MLAs on July 21. They sat until Dec. 20. . In 2000, the spring sitting of the first session of the 37th legislature ran from April 25 to Aug. 17. . In 2001, the sitting ended on Aug. 9. THE Selinger government did not conduct a economic- impact study before deciding to boost the provincial sales tax. In answer to a freedom- of- information request by the Manitoba Liberals, the Finance Department said no specific research was done in advance of the announcement in the April 16 budget. The one- percentage- point increase, which took effect July 1, is expected to add more than $ 275 million a year to government's coffers. " Pleased be advised that we have reviewed our files and no such records exist in Manitoba Finance," the department said in a letter dated July 26 in answer to the Liberals' request. Liberal MLA Jon Gerrard ( River Heights) said he was astonished the government would have taken such a major economic initiative without studying its potential effects. The PST hike was the cornerstone of the spring budget, he said, and its impact on the economy is complex. " You really need a thorough study on what the impact is going to be before you proceed with such a major initiative," Gerrard said after questioning the government about the Finance Department's response Wednesday. Premier Greg Selinger said the government based its decision to hike the PST on national economic forecasts and the need to spend more on infrastructure, including an estimated $ 1 billion in flood- proofing during the next several years. " What we looked at was the economic forecast for the country. It was showing that the Canadian economy was going to slow down, including in Manitoba," the premier said. " We looked at the big picture of the slowdown in the economy, the requirements for investments in the infrastructure, and we insured that Manitoba stayed one of the most affordable places to live in Canada, in the top three," he said Wednesday. - Larry Kusch Tories won't take no for an answer on PST Vow to hold up bills until NDP backs down on July 1 tax increase By Larry Kusch Gerrard puzzled by lack of study on tax increase KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Brian Pallister has been leader of the provincial Conservatives for a year now. A_ 06_ Aug- 01- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A4 7/ 31/ 13 10: 13: 14 PM ;